Rapper Saafir Dead at 54

By Leah Degrazia Nov 19, 2024 10:31 PMTags

"My soul is crushed," he added. "We love you Bro."

Saafir started making waves in the early 1990s for his work with the hip-hop crews Hobo Junction and Digital Underground, which he joined alongside his former roommate, the late Tupac Shakur. 

But his career really took off in 1993 when he scored a role in the cult classic film Menace II Society, which also starred Jada Pinket Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. The following year, he earned a major record deal with the late Quincy Jones and achieved critical acclaim with his debut album, Boxcar Sessions.

Saafir went on to drop a handful of follow-up records before largely stepping away from the public eye due to ongoing health complications, including a cancerous tumor in his spinal cord that required multiple surgeries and left him unable to walk. 

"I had to have the surgery to get the tumor out," the "Can-U-Feel-Me?" rapper told the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2013. "The doctor told me that if I didn’t take it out, by the time I was in my later 40s I would probably be paralyzed. And it’s ironic because I did the surgery and I’m still kinda in that situation."

And though his challenging health journey may have removed himself from the spotlight, Saafir—who released his last album, Gold Blooded, Vol. 3, in 2020—continued to focus on his craft. 

"I’m definitely writing about my experience, how I’m dealing with it and going through it," he said. "A lot of people look at my s--t from the ’90s and think I’m going to do the exact same s--t now and that’s just not reality. I’ve evolved as a person."

Saafir is survived by his son, the rapper known as Lil Saafir, and his brother, the MC known as Chop Black.